Seongdong-gu Selected as Best Institution for 7 Consecutive Years in 'Civil Service Comprehensive Evaluation'

Ministry of the Interior and Safety & Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Jointly Select '2023 Civil Service Comprehensive Evaluation' Best Institution
High Ratings for Improving Vulnerable Groups' Civil Service Accessibility and Direct Communication by District Mayor
Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, Says "Will Not Rest on '7 Consecutive Years' Title and Will Continue to Do Our Best"

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) has been selected as the 'Best Institution' providing the most outstanding civil complaint services nationwide in the '2023 Comprehensive Evaluation of Civil Complaint Services' jointly conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

This marks the 7th consecutive year since first being chosen as the best institution in 2017, making Seongdong-gu the first and only local government in the country to achieve such a record.

The 'Comprehensive Evaluation of Civil Complaint Services,' conducted annually as part of government performance assessments, evaluates the level of civil complaint services directly experienced by citizens and the operation status of civil complaint handling across a total of 306 institutions, including 46 central administrative agencies, 243 metropolitan and local governments, and 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education.

The evaluation indicators consist of five categories: ?Civil complaint administration strategy and system ?Civil complaint system operation ?Handling of complaints through the National Sinmungo (online civil complaint system) ?Handling of grievance complaints ?Civil complaint satisfaction. Only institutions ranking in the top 10% can receive the highest grade 'Ga,' which signifies the best institution.

Among these, Seongdong-gu was evaluated as outstanding compared to other institutions in providing differentiated civil complaint services reflecting regional characteristics, creative improvements in civil complaint administration that consider vulnerable groups, and active civil complaint administrative activities by the head of the institution.

First, the Smart Civil Complaint Form Creation System, introduced and operated for the first time nationwide by Seongdong-gu, received high marks for effort and effectiveness and was recognized as an excellent case of civil complaint administration and service improvement. This system is specially designed with convenience features such as voice recognition and real-time braille display to enable digitally vulnerable groups to more easily submit and process complaints.

Additionally, the 'Visiting Smart Classroom' educates digitally vulnerable groups on basic usage of smartphones and kiosks, the AI civil complaint guidance system 'Seongdongirang' provides complaint information through appropriate methods such as text, voice, and sign language depending on the complainant’s characteristics, and the 'Professional Civil Complaint Counselor' offers complaint guidance and accompaniment services during visits to vulnerable groups. These services were highly evaluated as unique civil complaint services exclusive to Seongdong-gu.

In particular, the efforts of the district mayor in civil complaint administration were highly rated, including 'Dialogue Day with the Mayor,' where the mayor meets complainants directly to listen and seek solutions; the 'Mayor-Parents Meeting,' where the mayor listens to various opinions from local parents and reflects them in civil complaint administration; and the 'Mayor’s Text Complaint Service,' which receives and responds to various resident complaints via mobile text messages, achieving a perfect score in this evaluation category.

Moreover, Seongdong-gu achieved excellent results in satisfaction surveys targeting those who have experienced the completion of legal complaints, National Sinmungo complaints, and grievance complaints.

This is analyzed as a result of actively establishing and operating internal systems to motivate prompt complaint handling and prevent delays in advance, such as the 'Speed Complaint Mileage System,' which selects and awards excellent employees who shorten complaint processing times, and the 'Advance Notice of Processing Deadlines System,' which informs complaint handlers of deadlines periodically.

Furthermore, Seongdong-gu was widely recognized for enhancing residents’ access to civil complaint services by implementing various policies, including dedicated counters for socially considerate groups such as pregnant women, persons with disabilities, and seniors; a document delivery service for residents who have difficulty visiting in person; and the 'Immediate Discount Service for Public Facility Usage Fees for Vulnerable Groups' through administrative information sharing. As a result, the district received consistently high evaluations across all areas in this assessment.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, "'The Comprehensive Evaluation of Civil Complaint Services' is very important as it objectively assesses Seongdong-gu’s civil complaint environment and service level nationwide every year and serves as an opportunity to provide a higher level of civil complaint services." He added, "Civil complaints are the administrative services most tangibly felt by residents, and it is an honor and joy that Seongdong-gu’s long-standing efforts to always be a strong support close to the residents have been fairly evaluated."

He continued, "We will not be complacent with the title of the only institution nationwide selected as the best for seven consecutive years," emphasizing, "We will continue to unite all Seongdong-gu office staff with one heart and do our best to provide the nation’s highest level of civil complaint services that residents can truly feel."